Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉) yesterday said that oil refined from waste products could be safely consumed if legal standards were followed in its manufacture.
“The problem lies not with the [refinery] technology, but with the conscience,” he added.
Su, a physician and director-general of the Taiwan Medical Association, said on the legislative floor yesterday that food-grade oil made from recycled products, since it passes health authorities’ standards, “should be edible.”
While delivering a short speech calling for the establishment of a “food safety network,” Su said that, as could be seen from recent food scandals, “factory hardware and the refinery technologies are not a problem: From plasticizers and clouding agents through adulterated oil to recycled and tainted oil, all of them have passed the end tests for acid value, [benzo(a)pyrene] and heavy metals, among others.”
“Many people have asked me whether the [questionable] oil is edible; I told them it should be, if it complied with standards,” the legislator said. “Even with the oil said to be refined from fat discarded by leather factories, the tests for heavy metals such as cadmium did not find anything substandard.”
“So the problem lies not with the technology, but with people’s conscience and morality. There are no black-hearted products, but only black-hearted manufacturers,” he said, calling on Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and the Cabinet to tackle the issue through morality education.
However, he also underlined the importance of a “food safety network” established by the government and including representatives from businesses and the public, who respectively should assume the tasks of supervision, source-tracking and informing in order to stamp out malpractice among food companies.
While lauding Jiang’s eight measures to increase food oversight announced on Wednesday, Su said that at least two points need be further augmented.
“The recycling of waste oil should be strictly regulated and monitored, and the Good Manufacturing Practice and Good Handling Practices certifications should be modified, rather than abolished. Changes could include revisions to the current rules on the composition of the evaluation committee and to the evaluation criteria,” Su said.
He then extolled the “swift response” to the scandal by the Cabinet and Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Wen-ta’s (邱文達) team.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
Speeding and badly maintained roads were the main causes of a school bus accident on a rainy day in Taipei last year that severely injured two people and left 22 with minor injuries, the Taiwan Transportation and Safety Board said. On March 11 last year, a Kang Chiao International School bus overturned inside the Wenshan Tunnel (文山隧道) on the northbound lane of the Xinyi Expressway. The tour bus, owned by Long Lai Co, exceeded the speed limit after entering the tunnel, the board’s investigation found. Sensing that the rear of the vehicle was swaying, the driver attempted to use the service and exhaust
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
RSS